Children and hobbyists have long enjoyed creative toys which have allowed the individual to construct various items of interest such as boxes, small houses, bridges, airplanes, boats and the like. Examples of such products have included the Erector™ Set and various Lego™ Kits which are provided at various levels of complexity. In the so called Erector™ products, these toys have included a series of plates and bars with holes in them which are subsequently joined together with nuts and a corresponding bolt. Other creative toys have included somewhat similar building units but have further used wooden pegs to join the building units together.
In my U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/290,333, and which was filed on Nov. 29, 2005, I disclosed a construction system which included a construction element which had at least one passageway which extended therethrough; a fastener body telescopingly received, at least in part, in the passageway and which extends, at least in part, outwardly relative to the construction element; and a locking member cooperating with the fastener body, and which in a first position allows the fastener body to be telescopingly received, at least in part, within the passageway defined by the construction element, and in a second position substantially impedes the removal of the fastener body from the passageway defined by the construction element. While this construction system, as described in this patent application, operates with a great deal of success, it is not useful for joining or otherwise fastening construction elements together such that the elements can be oriented, for example, in the same plane, or other advantageously angulated orientations.
A construction system which avoids the shortcomings attendant with the prior art devices and practices utilized heretofore is the subject matter of the present application.